WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud Inspection (Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council)

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) third inspection report on Sandwell metropolitan borough council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
	Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April  2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The performance standards for housing benefits allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
	In 2002–03, Sandwell metropolitan borough council administered some £106.3  million in housing benefits, about 12.5  per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.
	BFI inspected Sandwell metropolitan borough council against the performance standards for housing benefits, and concludes that the council's benefits service had not reached Standard in any of the seven functional areas—strategic management, customer services, processing of claims, working with landlords, internal security, counter-fraud and overpayments.
	This was the third BFI inspection of Sandwell metropolitan borough council, instigated because of a deterioration in the performance of the council's benefits service.
	The report finds that the council's benefits service had failed to fully implement 54  per cent. of the recommendations made in the earlier follow-up inspection report, published in March  2001. This led to poor performance in key areas including customer services, processing of claims and overpayments.
	Since the follow-up inspection in 2001, the council had embarked on an ambitious programme of change. There had been an improvement in the verification of supporting information before benefit was paid, following implementation of the verification framework. However, BFI has concerns about the council's speed of claims processing and its lack of quality checking. New claims were taking an average 86  days to clear compared with 61  days in 2001 and the performance standard of 36  days. Between January and September  2003, the council had failed to comply with regulations when it made awards of benefit in a significant number of cases when it did not have a claim for the period in question. And in early  2003 it decided to implement changes of circumstances from a current date instead of the date of change.
	Customers experienced real difficulties in accessing the service, either through the council's call centre or in person at the enquiry counters. Limited performance monitoring of this area made it difficult to identify performance issues and target resources effectively.
	There was insufficient training on overpayments and a lack of monitoring. The range of management information collected on overpayments was poor.
	The report finds good practices in the council's counter-fraud work including a history of high levels of sanction activity against benefit fraudsters, publicising its counter-fraud policy and having accurate staff guidance.
	The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax Benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Health and Social Services Estates Agency (2004–05 Performance Targets)

Angela Smith: The targets, which have been set for 2004–05, are based on the strategic aims and objectives of the agency as set out in section 4 of its corporate and business plan. The targets are in line with the Department's policy of seeking to improve the service provided to the agency's clients in terms of both quality and value for money and I am satisfied that they present a demanding challenge for the agency. A copy of the corporate and business plan will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	The targets are as follows:
	Quality
	95 per cent. of the service provided by the Agency's Client Support staff to external clients to be regarded as satisfactory, of which 35 per cent. of the service to be regarded as either very good or excellent.
	95 per cent. of the service provided by the Agency's Project Management staff to external clients to be regarded as satisfactory, of which 35 per cent. of the service to be regarded as either very good or excellent.
	95 per cent. of the service provided by the Agency's Trust Consultancy Support staff to external clients to be regarded as satisfactory, of which 35 per cent. of the service to be regarded as either very good or excellent.
	90 per cent. of the service provided by the Agency's Specialist Engineering staff to external clients to be regarded as satisfactory, of which 30 per cent. of the service to be regarded as either very good or excellent.
	Throughput/Service Delivery
	Complete eight Firecode audits on HSS bodies by 31 March 2005.
	Complete testing against Health Service guidance and relevant British and European Standards and issue Test Reports to the Authorised Person in respect of 110 sterilizers and washer disinfectors by 31 March 2005, based on an estimate of 99 installed machines at April 2004 and eleven new machines installed in-year.
	Respond to requests for Clinical Engineering support within 10 working days of receipt of a request.
	Issue all Medical Device/Equipment Alerts with an "Immediate Action" level of urgency designation initiated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) within three working days on receipt of final MHRA Alert (provided that no further consultation is involved).
	Issue all Medical Device/Equipment Alerts with an "Action" level of urgency designation initiated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) within five working days on receipt of final MHRA Alert (provided that no further consultation is involved).
	Financial Management
	Ensure that the Agency lives within its running cost allocation for the year.
	Demonstrate that the full costs of the Agency are recouped, on a notional basis, through Service Level Agreements with its clients.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Public Guardianship Office (Performance)

David Lammy: My hon. Friend, Lord Filkin, has today set the following key performance indicators and targets for the Public Guardianship Office (PGO) Executive Agency for 2004–05.
	KPI 1: To increase the satisfaction of its customers in the delivery of its services.
	Target:
	To achieve an overall customer satisfaction rating, covering professional and lay receivers, of at least 75 per cent. as measured by its annual customer survey.
	KPI 2: To increase the proportion of effective visits by the Lord Chancellor's visitors.
	Targets:
	To maintain a minimum of 6,000 visits per year to include all receivership division clients.
	To achieve 80 per cent. effective visits over the year.
	During 2004–05, to develop and implement a system to measure customer satisfaction in the visitor's service.
	KPI 3: To maintain an effective system to collect and review accounts, and use this process to review the case management regime to ensure that it is meeting the needs of each customer and client.
	Targets:
	To collect 60 per cent. of accounts within two calendar months of the accounting end date, 85 per cent. within four calendar months of the accounting end date, and 100 per cent. within six calendar months of the accounting end date, referring cases to the Court of Protection where necessary or taking other steps to ensure proper accounts are produced on behalf of clients (applies to protection clients only i.e. those clients who have an external receiver).
	To complete the review of, or to have requested further information for, 100 per cent. of accounts within 20 working days of receipt (to apply to both receivership and protection clients).
	KPI 4: To deliver an improved service to clients.
	Targets:
	Correspondence
	To respond to 20 per cent. of correspondence within five working days of receipt; 50 per cent. of correspondence within 10 working days of receipt; and 98 per cent. of correspondence within 15 working days of receipt.
	Release of funds
	Where access to a client's capital is requested, the PGO will give directions to the court funds office (CFO), or dispatch directions to an external receiver within five working days in 80 per cent. of cases and within 10 working days in 95 per cent. of cases; or explain why it cannot release funds.
	Applications for receivership
	Providing it has all the appropriate forms and information required in support of an application, PGO will list a case for hearing and notify the applicant within 10 working days in 95 per cent. of cases. The hearing date will be within 35 working days of the date the hearing was listed in 95 per cent. of cases.
	After the hearing, PGO will notify applicants of the outcome of the hearing and request any further information the court requires within five working days in 95 per cent. of cases.
	PGO will issue orders within 10 working days in 95 per cent. of cases where all information and documents have been received.
	Closing cases
	Where a client dies and PGO has a complete application for final directions, it will prepare and dispatch directions to transfer assets to personal representatives within 15 working days in 30 per cent. of cases, within 20 working days in 80 per cent. of cases, and within 25 working days in 100 per cent. of cases.
	Enduring powers of attorney
	To register and return 98 per cent. of correctly lodged EPAs, where there are no objections, within five working days of the end of the statutory waiting period.
	Accuracy of orders
	To reduce the level of orders returned with errors to 3 per cent.
	KPI 5: To demonstrate improvements in efficiency by meeting a unit cost target.
	Targets:
	To meet a unit cost target of not more than £510 per case.